Bust form and method of making it



Nov. 8, 1960 c. D. DOUTHIT BUST FORM AND METHOD OF MAKING rr 2Sheets-Sheet.1

Filed Oct. 9, 1956 Nov. 8, 1960 c. D. DOUTHIT 2,959,173

BUST FORM AND METHOD OF MAKING IT Filed Oct. 9. 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2United States Patent ice 2*959173 Patented Nov. 8, 1960' 22 the desiredbust contour of the finished product may be obtained from a flat sheetof material.

Where additional uplift is desired, an uplift pad 25, 2,959,173 formedin any suitable manner, may be adhesively or BUST FORM AND METHOD OFMAKING IT Carl D. Douthit, 224 Vista Circle, Macon, Ga.

Filed Oct. 9, 1956, Ser. No. 614,848

Claims. (Cl. 128-479) This invention relates to a fabricated bust formfor use in brassieres, commonly known as falsies, and a method of makingsuch a form. Such forms in the past have been molded of rubber orsimilar materials to obtain the desired contour. This involvesconsiderable expense and, therefore, many unsuccessful attempts havebeen made to produce such forms by other and less costly methods.

According to this invention bust forms are fabricated rather thanmolded, that is, they are made by die cutting suitable sheet material,such as sheet foam rubber. The cut sheet is later secured together alongcut edges so arranged as to produce the desired contour in the finishedproduct. By this method applicant greatly reduces the cost of producingsuch forms in that not only is it possible to use the basic material inits less expensive form, that is sheet form, but in addition, theexpense of providing molds is eliminated.

A better understanding of this invention will be had from the followingdescription given in connection with the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a cut piece or blank of sheet material fromwhich a bust form is made;

Figure 2 is an end elevation;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the bust form made from the blank shownin Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a side elevation;

Figure 5 is a transverse section taken approximately along lines 55 ofFigure 6; and

Figure 6 is a plan view of a modified form of the invention illustratinga bust form with a supplemental elevating pad secured to the interior.

As can best be seen from Figure 1 the fabricated form comprises a blankindicated generally by the reference character 1 formed of plane sheetmaterial, such as a sheet of sponge rubber. The blank has an arcuatebottom edge 3 and substantially straight or slightly curved side edges 5and 7. The underside of the two sides and bottom of the blank is skivedor skarfed as shown more particularly in Figure 2, the skived edgesbeing indicated at 9. The blank is provided with two spaced darts 11 and13, formed by cutting into the blank from the end opposite the curvedend 3. The darts are formed with oppositely curved cut sides, that is,dart 11 is formed by intersecting opposed curved cuts 14 and 15, whereasdart 13 is formed with oppositely curved intersecting cuts 16 and 17.The cutting of the darts provides a center piece, or tongue 18, havingoppositely curved sides and 16, and two side pieces 19 and formed by theedges7 and 14 and 17 and 5 respectively. The outer ends 21 and 22 of theside pieces 19 and 20 respectively are out along inwardly and downwardlycurved lines.

In fabricating the bust form the two ends 21 and 22 are brought togetherand secured with suitable adhesive, as are cut edges 14 and 15, as wellas cut edges 16 and 17, as illustrated in Figures 3 and 4. Thus, byproper selection of the curvature of cuts 14, 15, 16, 17, 21, and

otherwise secured to the inner surface of the fabricated form, as shownin Figures 5 and 6.

From the foregoing it will be observed that a contoured bust form isinexpensively fabricated from a fiat sheet of material, eliminating thenecessity of providing expensive molds and then molding the materialinto the desired form. Obviously, it eliminates the necessity for aplurality of molds for varied molded bust forms. The sheet material canbe skived at the marginal edges if desired for better fit against thebody and the remainder of cutting can be accomplished by a simple diecutting operation. Where a plurality of contours or shapes is desired,it is only necessary to provide sufficient dies, which is considerablyless expensive than molds.

Obviously minor changes may be made without departing from the scope andspirit of this invention as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A fabricated bust form comprising, a blank of plane sheet materialhaving two generally triangularly shaped darts cut in one end thereinproviding two side pieces and a tongue therebetween, said tongue edgeshaving a length corresponding to the length of the inner edges of theadjacent side pieces, the cut sides of said darts being secured togetherand the ends of the side pieces of the blank being secured together atthe outer end of the tongue whereby a bust line contour is imparted tothe fabricated blank.

2. A fabricated bust form as defined in claim 1 wherein each dart isdefined by oppositely curved sides.

3. A fabricated bust form as defined in claim 1 wherein the peripheraledges of said blank are skived.

4. A fabricated bust form as defined in claim 1 wherein said tongue isgenerally of a triangular shape.

5. A fabricated bust form as defined in claim 1 wherein said tongueterminates at its outer end in a point.

6. A fabricated bust form as defined in claim 2 wherein said tongue hasoppositely curved sides.

7. A fabricated bust form as defined in claim 1 wherein an uplift pad issecured to the interior of the form.

8. The method of fabricating a bust form which comprises, the steps ofcutting a blank of sheet material, cutting a pair of spaced dartsinwardly from opposite outer edges of the sheet material into said blankto provide a central tongue and separated side pieces the peripherallength of the inner edge of each of the side pieces and the peripherallength of the adjacent edges of the formed tongue corresponding inlength and the tongue and side pieces being joined at their inner endsand the outer end of each side piece being free, drawing and securingthe cut edges of said darts so that the cut inner edge of one side pieceis secured to one side of the tongue and so that the inner side of theother end piece is secured to the other side of the tongue, and drawingand securing the free ends of the side pieces together with the inneredge of each of the side pieces placed adjacent the end of said tongueand the outer edge extending outwardly therefrom.

9. The method defined in claim 8 wherein said darts are cut along curvedlines 10. A blank for a fabricated bust form comprising a sheet ofmaterial, one side of said sheet being arcuate and terminating in twooutwardly extending substantially straight sides to provide side memberswhose sides opposite the arcuate side extend along paths adapted tointersect at a point on the bisector of the arc of the first side whichis spaced further from the mid-point of the first-side arc than theextent of the substantially straight sides, two pairs: of substantiallytriangularly shaped darts extending inwardly from the side members toform the side members in separated relationship and to provide a tonguetherebetween, the tongue having generally convexly curved sides whosearcuate length corresponds to the arcuate length of the'inner edge oftheside member adjacent to it as formed-by the darts and which tongueterminates in a point, whereby, upon folding the inner edge of the sidemembers about the outer edges of the tongue from the innermost edge ofthe dart to the point on the tongue and then placing the ends of theside members in abutting relationship, the blank is transformed to acup-shaped formation.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Marderet al. Mar. 28, Wilkenfeld et al. Feb. 10, Denis Apr. 5, Gluckin Sept.27, Wilkenfeld May 16, Freedman Apr. 28, Schuessler Feb. 21,

FOREIGN PATENTS France Oct. 12, Netherlands Ian. 15,

